SAVINGS IDEAS

To the editor:

Governor O'Bannon says our budget shortfall will be at least $400 million.
I want to help. Here are two simple solutions: decriminalize drug use;
utilize restitution for nonviolent crime.

We have over 21,000 prisoners in seriously overcrowded Indiana jails. True
costs including police, courts, social services, and jail total a little
over $71,000 per inmate per year ($1.5 billion). About 40 percent (8,400)
are in jail for non-violent drug law violations - use, possession, sale -
harm only to self. By decriminalizing drug use, we could save $596 mil lion
in tax dollars. If we must penalize drug users, institute reasonable fines
to create revenue instead of incarceration expenses. Revising penal codes
for the 6,000 or so inmates who write bad checks and steal could result in
another savings of $426 million. Restitution instead of incarceration would
benefit society. These people could repay society for their crime by public
service and/or garnished wages. They would become vested in civil society
by repayment, and society would benefit by reduced penal expense, and even
recoup lost property/money.

These two simple strategies would save the state over $1 billion
(annually), and generate revenue.

This may be too libertarian for some. However, the benefit to society of
reduced expenses, return of potentially productive citizens from jail to
the work force, reduced strain on social services, police and courts would
make Indiana a better place to live. Gandhi said: the measure of greatness
of a country is how it treats its prisoners. We could be doing better.

Clark Brittain

Bloomington